I want to thank:
My parents and my sister who have never read photoromances but always trusted that I had something important to say about them.
The many archivists and librarians who patiently worked with me on this project. Without their help, this book never could have been written.
The Office of the Vice President for Research and the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Texas at Austin, respectively, for the subvention grant that allowed this publication to happen (in color!) and for a Humanities Research Award that funded research for this project.
My friends and colleagues Alessandra Montalbano and Jonathan Mullins for their thoughtful comments on drafts of this manuscript; Giovanna Faleschini for her useful advice on this project; and Silvia Carlorosi for her encouragement.
Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Giorgio Bertellini, and Nicoletta Marini-Maio for their mentorship.
My colleagues in the Department of French and Italian for their support and for allowing me to take time off from teaching when I most needed it.
Victoria Hindley, the most enthusiastic and experienced acquisition editor I could have ever wished for, Gabriela Bueno Gibbs, and everyone else at MIT Press who helped in making this book.
Samantha Gillen for proofreading my manuscript.
All the Facebook members of photoromance fan groups who participated in my study, and all the anonymous users who responded to my research survey.
My graduate students, particularly those in my seminar Media Convergence and Transmedia Storytelling in Italy, for their challenging questions.
Silvia and Valeria for their friendship.
Petre, for I can always count on him and because he’s much better than me with titles.
Pinguino, because life would not be as good without a dog.
Marco, just because he is.